Thorium monoxide

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Thorium monoxide
Names
IUPAC names
Thorium monoxide
Thorium(II) oxide
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
  • InChI=1S/O.Th
    Key: OEANRDRPVNMNRM-UHFFFAOYSA-N
  • [Th]=O
Properties
ThO
Molar mass 248.04 g·mol−1
Appearanceblack solid [1]
Structure
face-centered cubic
a = 4.31 Å
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

Thorium monoxide (thorium(II) oxide), is the binary oxide of thorium having chemical formula ThO. In the vapor phase, it is a diatomic molecule.

Contents

Gaseous (molecular) form

Laser ablation of thorium in the presence of oxygen produces vapor-phase thorium monoxide. [2] Thorium monoxide molecules contain a highly polar covalent bond. The effective electric field between the two atoms has been calculated to be about 80 gigavolts per centimeter, one of the largest known internal effective electric fields. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Solid form

Simple combustion of thorium in air produces thorium dioxide. However, exposure of a thin film of thorium to low-pressure oxygen at medium temperature forms a rapidly growing layer of thorium monoxide under a more-stable surface coating of the dioxide. [7]

At extremely high temperatures, thorium dioxide can convert to the monoxide either by a comproportionation reaction (equilibrium with liquid thorium metal) above 1,850 K (1,580 °C; 2,870 °F) or by simple dissociation (evolution of oxygen) above 2,500 K (2,230 °C; 4,040 °F). [8]

ThO2 + Th(l) ⇌ 2 ThO(s)
ThO2 → ThO(s) + ½ O2

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References

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  5. Skripnikov, L. V.; Petrov, A. N.; Titov, A. V. (2013-12-14). "Communication: Theoretical study of ThO for the electron electric dipole moment search". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 139 (22): 221103. arXiv: 1308.0414 . Bibcode:2013JChPh.139v1103S. doi:10.1063/1.4843955. ISSN   0021-9606. PMID   24329049. S2CID   42153944.
  6. "The ACME EDM Experiment". electronedm.org. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  7. He, Heming; Majewski, Jaroslaw; Allred, David D.; Wang, Peng; Wen, Xiaodong; Rector, Kirk D. (2017). "Formation of solid thorium monoxide at near-ambient conditions as observed by neutron reflectometry and interpreted by screened hybrid functional calculations". Journal of Nuclear Materials. 487: 288–296. Bibcode:2017JNuM..487..288H. doi: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.12.046 .
  8. Hoch, Michael; Johnston, Herrick L. (1954). "The Reaction Occurring on Thoriated Cathodes". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 76 (19): 4833–4835. doi:10.1021/ja01648a018.